My brother and his wife, Jill, got married this weekend at Possum Kingdom Lake (with the reception at my parents' lake house), and they are now on their honeymoon in St. Thomas. Jealous? Me too. I want another honeymoon. He told me that I already had one. That is true. But 8 years and 2 kids will make you want another one.
Anyway, the wedding is not the real story of this weekend. Just kidding...it IS the real story and definitely a significant event. But, I did not take one single photo during the wedding or reception because I was too busy either helping out or wrangling my boys. Plus they had a super-talented photographer, Missy Saunders (whom I recommended to them), taking care of the photos. And I can't wait to see them. So, all I have today are photos of the fire damage and smoke that Casey took with his iphone. And that is quite a story in itself...
We rolled into the Possum Kingdom area around 5 pm on Friday evening. The wind was unbelievably strong. When we were about a mile from the entrance to the lake house development, we were redirected because of a road closure. We could clearly see the smoke and the fires that the fire fighters were trying to keep in check as best they could. Again, this was about a mile from the lake house.
When we got there, my mom told me that we were on evacuation alert/notice. That means that we needed to be ready to evacuate at any moment should an order be given. This was just a teeny bit stressful given the fact that they were (at that very moment) bringing in flowers for the wedding and there were tables set up and decked out in the great room for the reception.
That night the fires never moved closer and the wind died down a bit, but we woke up to a thick blanket of smoke around the house and over the lake. We could not even see the cliffs on the other side of the lake because of the smoke. We had planned to set up the appetizer table outside that morning, but decided to relocate it indoors because the smoke was so smelly and thick. We were crossing our fingers that we could get through the wedding without the fires coming any closer.
It turns out that the wedding went off without a hitch despite the fires raging all day and burning (quite literally) all around us. We were never ordered to evacuate on Saturday. The smoke even cleared out and we enjoyed our appetizers outside after all. Meanwhile, the fire fighters were still working hard to save homes and other structures from the fires. Casey and I went to the burger joint to eat that evening while our kids slept at the lake house with the rest of the family. The road was closed on the way back, but they let us through because we were not going that far down that road.
We later found out that the First Baptist church, which is located on the road that was closed on Friday night when we passed by, burned down. We saw the building on our way to the house on Friday, but it was gone on Saturday. And we could see the path of the fire that came down the hill behind the church.
On Saturday late afternoon, after the wedding, a bunch of our family was hanging out on the porch of the lake house and we had to put down the screens because of the ash that was falling. Almost every road around the lake house has been closed at some point and now shows signs of the fires that have been there. On our way back home on Sunday, we saw the charred plants as well as some small fires that were still burning. We left right before the mandatory evacuation was ordered late Sunday afternoon.
It still remains to be seen how this will all play out as the fires are still raging and the winds are still blowing. There are already 30 homes (along with the baptist church) that have burned. What a terrible loss for those families who find themselves without a home and everything that was inside.
Anyway, the wedding is not the real story of this weekend. Just kidding...it IS the real story and definitely a significant event. But, I did not take one single photo during the wedding or reception because I was too busy either helping out or wrangling my boys. Plus they had a super-talented photographer, Missy Saunders (whom I recommended to them), taking care of the photos. And I can't wait to see them. So, all I have today are photos of the fire damage and smoke that Casey took with his iphone. And that is quite a story in itself...
We rolled into the Possum Kingdom area around 5 pm on Friday evening. The wind was unbelievably strong. When we were about a mile from the entrance to the lake house development, we were redirected because of a road closure. We could clearly see the smoke and the fires that the fire fighters were trying to keep in check as best they could. Again, this was about a mile from the lake house.
When we got there, my mom told me that we were on evacuation alert/notice. That means that we needed to be ready to evacuate at any moment should an order be given. This was just a teeny bit stressful given the fact that they were (at that very moment) bringing in flowers for the wedding and there were tables set up and decked out in the great room for the reception.
That night the fires never moved closer and the wind died down a bit, but we woke up to a thick blanket of smoke around the house and over the lake. We could not even see the cliffs on the other side of the lake because of the smoke. We had planned to set up the appetizer table outside that morning, but decided to relocate it indoors because the smoke was so smelly and thick. We were crossing our fingers that we could get through the wedding without the fires coming any closer.
It turns out that the wedding went off without a hitch despite the fires raging all day and burning (quite literally) all around us. We were never ordered to evacuate on Saturday. The smoke even cleared out and we enjoyed our appetizers outside after all. Meanwhile, the fire fighters were still working hard to save homes and other structures from the fires. Casey and I went to the burger joint to eat that evening while our kids slept at the lake house with the rest of the family. The road was closed on the way back, but they let us through because we were not going that far down that road.
We later found out that the First Baptist church, which is located on the road that was closed on Friday night when we passed by, burned down. We saw the building on our way to the house on Friday, but it was gone on Saturday. And we could see the path of the fire that came down the hill behind the church.
On Saturday late afternoon, after the wedding, a bunch of our family was hanging out on the porch of the lake house and we had to put down the screens because of the ash that was falling. Almost every road around the lake house has been closed at some point and now shows signs of the fires that have been there. On our way back home on Sunday, we saw the charred plants as well as some small fires that were still burning. We left right before the mandatory evacuation was ordered late Sunday afternoon.
It still remains to be seen how this will all play out as the fires are still raging and the winds are still blowing. There are already 30 homes (along with the baptist church) that have burned. What a terrible loss for those families who find themselves without a home and everything that was inside.
1 comment:
i was wondering today how close this was to Fairhaven! Hoping and praying that your house stays away from the flames!!!
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